We have some very, very good news for Europeans (which happens to include myself): we have the European Parliament on our sides when it comes to battling ACTA. If you may recall, ACTA is basically an attempt by the US to impose upon the rest of the world draconian measures like three strikes laws and the DMCA. All parties within the European Parliament have together put forth a resolution that would effectively tackle ACTA.

Did I... miss something? I recall hearing a story on NPR about a recent controversy in Japanese politics over their constitution guaranteeing national pacifism (i.e. pledging them to no military action), and the concern that the actions of... I can't remember if it was North Korea or Iran made them call that commitment into question? I was under the impression that them not having a military to speak of at the time was a major concern?

Edit: yeah, if Wikipedia is to be believed, the Japanese military numbers 239,430 all-told, and until very recently where restricted to operating withing Japanese territory. Japan's constitution explicitly renounces the right to declare war or "use military forces to settle disputes." Japans servicemen are considered civilians and are governed by civilian law, and the Ministry of Defense is a civilian agency. Japan's military expenditures total $49 billion, while the U.S.'s total $669 billion.
Yeah! I'm neither retarded, nor going crazy!

Edit Edit: for comparison, the U.S. military numbers 1,473,900 people, with about that many again as reservists.